Unit VIII- Gender in the Classroom

Module 8:
a. The school and its role to a person’s gender
b. The influence of the two agents toward
gender
c. How to promote gender equality as a teacher
inside the classroom.
The following are questions that will guide you
through this lesson:
• Define school.
• What is the role of schools in gender role
socialization?
• How the school performs the function of
socialization?
• How do teachers contribute to gender
differences?
• How do peers contribute to gender
differences?
• How to create an inclusive classroom
environment?
 Introduction
Schools are important contexts for the
socialization of young children's gender attitudes and
behavior. Teachers and classmates shape children's
gender attitudes and, in turn, gender differences in
cognition and behavior
The experiences afforded to girls and boys
within schools are known to affect gender
differentiation both directly, by providing differential
skill practice and reinforcement, by providing input
that leads children to actively socialize themselves
along gender-differentiated pathways.
Concept of School and Role of the School as a
Socializing Agent

• The school is an artificial institution set up for the

purpose of socialization and cultural transmission.
• The school can be regarded as a formally constituted
community as opposed to a mutual community.
• Other than the home the school is the other
important institution in which socialization takes
place.
• The school is said to be next to the family in terms of
importance as far as socialization is concerned.
• The school is the first large-scale organization in
which the child becomes a member.
Concept of School and Role of the School as a
Socializing Agent

• The school is a miniature reflecting what goes on in

the wider society.
• The school combines the formal (e.g. classroom
teaching, fines caning, suspension expulsions
official mention, prices) and informal (e.g. peer
group influences/ pressure) approaches in its
socializing function.
How the school performs the function of
socialization
 
Through the curriculum, the school in a formal way
provides the child with the necessary skills and
knowledge as regard their future life. The following are
essential social functions of schools;

• Knowledge of basic intellectual skills such as

reading, writing, verbal expression, quantitative and
other cognitive abilities, education teaches language
well how people communicate with each other
according to positions in society.
• Cultural achievements of one’s society.
The opportunities to acquire social and vocational
abilities which are necessary in order to make one a
social, useful, and economically productive member
of society.
• Gender roles as perceived as suitable roles by
society.
Educational systems socialize students to become
members of society, to play meaningful roles in the
complex network of independent positions.
• Education helps in shaping values and attitudes to
the needs of contemporary society. Education
widens the mental horizons of pupils and teaches
them new ways of looking at themselves and their
society.
• Education offers young people opportunities for
intellectual, emotional, and social growth. Thus,
education can be influential in promoting new
values and stimulating adaptation to change
conditions.
• Informally and especially through social clubs, the
school enables the child to learn a number of other
social roles and skills which are also important for
his/her overall development as a member of society.
For example,
Education teaches the laws, traditions, and norms
of the community, the rights that individuals will
enjoy, and the responsibilities that they will
undertake.
• Education teaches how one is to behave toward
his/her playmates and adults.
• Education teaches how to share things and ideas.
• Education teaches how to compete responsibly.
• Schooling teaches how to cooperate
• Schooling instills the community's pattern of
respect; thus, how to relate to others well and obey
rules.
• Schooling enables one to internalize the culture of
one's society.
• Education leads toward tolerant and humanitarian
attitudes. For example, college graduates are
expected to be more tolerant than high school
graduates in their attitudes toward ethnic and racial
groups.
• Education will train useful citizens who will
obediently conform to society's norms and will
accept the role and status that society will confer
upon them when they have finished their schooling.
Teachers and peers contribute to gender
differences
Schools affect gender differentiation via two
primary sources: teachers and peers. Teachers and
peers directly influence gender differentiation
by providing boys and girls with different learning
opportunities and feedback. Teachers and peers are
also sources of learning about gender. Teachers
present curricular materials that contain gender
stereotypic behavior, and peers exhibit gender
stereotypic attitudes and behavior. Children
internalize gender stereotypes and prejudices, which
in turn guide their own preferences and behaviors.
How do teachers contribute to gender differences?
Many educators endorse cultural gender
stereotypes (e.g., math is easier for boys than girls) and
prejudices (show preferences for same-gender
individuals). These biases can be explicit (e.g.,
consciously endorsed) or implicit (unconsciously held),
and they influence teachers’ classroom behaviors.
 
Teachers’ gender stereotypes and prejudices shape their
classroom behavior in at least three ways.
▪ Teachers often model gender stereotypic behavior.
Female teachers, for example, often exhibit “math-
phobic” behaviors.
▪ Teacher facilitates children’s gender biases by marking
gender as important by using it to label and organize
students. 
In one study, teachers were asked to use gender to
label children and to organize classroom activities by, for
example, greeting children with “Good morning, boys
and girls” and asking children to line up by gender. Other
teachers ignored students’ gender.  Young children
whose teachers labeled and used gender showed higher
levels of gender stereotyping than their peers.
Preschool teachers’ labeling and use of gender increase
their pupils’ gender stereotyping and avoidance of cross-
gender playmates.
How do peers contribute to gender differences?

▪ Children prefer to play with peers who are similar

to them. Thus, girls may select other girls
because they share similar interests and
activities. 
 
▪ Children may become similar to their friends due
to influence, or the tendency of behaviors and
interests to spread through social ties over time.
▪ Peers also contribute to gender differentiation by
teaching their classmates stereotypes (e.g.,
“Short hair is for boys, not girls”) and punishing
them for failing to conform to stereotypes via
verbal harassment and physical
aggression. Importantly, intervention programs
can teach young children to recognize and
challenge their peers’ sexist remarks (e.g., “You
can’t say girls can’t play!”).
How to create an inclusive classroom environment
An inclusive school or classroom can only be
successful when all students feel they are truly part of
the school community. This can only happen through
open, honest discussion about differences and
understanding and respecting people from all abilities
and backgrounds. An inclusive environment is one
where everyone feels valued.
 
Gender-inclusive practices come in many forms.
Educators can take a variety of steps today to make
their classrooms more gender-inclusive. 
▪ Avoid asking kids to line up as boys or girls or
separating them by gender. Invite students to come
up with choices themselves.
▪ Whenever possible, avoid using phrases such as
“boys & girls,” “you guys,” “ladies and gentlemen,”
and similarly gendered expressions to address
whole groups of students.
▪ Provide an opportunity for every student to privately
share with you their name and pronouns and tell
students why you are doing so. 
▪ Have signs and other visual images reinforcing
gender inclusion: 
▪ When you do need to reference gender, use terms
that expand the gender binary.
▪ When students share binary gendered statements
ideas, provide counter-narratives that challenge
them to think more broadly about gender. 
▪ Find examples in the media, popular culture or
through social media that reinforce gender
stereotypes or binary notions of gender. Call out
and explore these with students. Encourage
students to find their own examples.
▪ Interrupt openly hostile attitudes or references
towards others EVERY TIME you hear or observe
them, but also use these as teachable moments.
▪ Give students specific language that empowers
them to be proud of who they are and to defend
others who are being mistreated. 
▪ Share personal anecdotes from your own life that
reflect a growing understanding of gender
inclusiveness. This could be a time when you were
not gender-inclusive in your thinking, words, or
behaviors, what you learned as a result, and what
you will do differently next time.
▪ Do the work yourself. What are your own
experiences with gender? What are some of your
biases? Share with students your reflections on
your evolving understanding of gender.
References:

Bigler R., Roberson H.A. Hamilton V. (2013), The Role of Schools in the
Early Socialization of Gender Differences. Retrieved from
https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/gender-early-socialization/according
- experts/role-schools-early-socialization-gender-differences#:~:text=Sch
ools'%20affect%20gender%20differentiation%20via,sources%20of%20l
earning%20about%20gende

Matutu K. (2017). The Role of the School as a Socializing Agent.

Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/33941341/THE_ROLE_OF_THE_SCHO
OL_AS_A_SOCIALIZING_AGENT#:~:text=The%20school%20repr
esents%20a%20formal,act%20as%20models%20for%20students
Flavia J. (2012). How the school performs the function of
socialization. Retrieved from:
https://www.kenyaplex.com/resources/5742-how-the-school-
performs-the-function-of-socialization.aspx

Kumar G. (2020). HOW TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY IN THE

CLASSROOM. Retrieved from
https://in.pearson.com/blogs/2020/03/how-to-promote-
gender-equality-in-the-classroom.html
Unlu V. (2017). How do you currently promote inclusivity in the
classroom? Retrieved from
https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2017/11/15/create-inclusive-cl
assroom-environment
/
https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/gender-early-socializati
on/according-experts/peer-socialization-gender-young-boys
-and-girls#:~:text=First%2C%20children%20prefer%20to%
20play,through%20social%20ties%20over%20time
.
 
https://studyonline.ecu.edu.au/blog/how-does-gender-affect
-educational-opportunity
 
https://www.genderspectrum.org/articles/easy-steps-to-a-ge
nder-inclusive-classroom